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We weren't ready to eat when we went in around two p.m. so the first part of my plan of eating at El Triunfo was out, so we drove straight on to Fanueil Hall— I think the Google directions asked for something impossible, but I took us to Atlantic and on up to State and that really wasn't a detour at all, though getting there involved horrendous traffic. They were putting air conditioning or heating units on top of an Emerson building on Boylston.

Faneuil Hall is a bunch of expensive stores that neither of us was much interested in. One street performer, a drummer, pretty good but it was of course freezing cold out.

Andrea wasn't interested in the Aquarium which was sort of part of the Faneuil Hall plan but was in the ICA, which was I think only about a mile and a half walking, but Andrea figured she'd rather be lost in the car. And lost we were. State was one-way so when we got back to Atlantic Ave. we were south of the turn-off to what once was Northern Ave, and my mind was stuck expecting us to be north, which would have been a five-minute error except that you can't go south on Atlantic Ave at that point, so after some meandering around we ended up flying south on Route 93, and then stuck in traffic on 93, and ultimately turned around, and got back on Atlantic where we started and headed up to the turn off a few roads north of South Station.

Attention navigators and mapmakers: Where Northern Avenue was is now called Seacoast Boulevard.

Then the ICA was closed. I hate that museum. First it's closed on a Monday when Moshe and I go to meet there, and now it's closed its doors at 5 p.m. on a Saturday. Why bother opening in the first place?

I am so bad at planning. I should talk more. We could have hit the ICA first. It was in my mind at some point but I can't seem to keep three things in my mind at once.

I am so bad at navigating, I should ditch the car for any excuse and take the T (even though it would have been a very roundabout subway ride to save not much distance walking from Faneuil to ICA). Without that Andrea hasn't really experienced Boston anyway. Although getting lost driving with bad directions and stuck on one-way streets and shunted onto highways going the wrong direction is the quintessential Boston driving experience, and not just the experience you're guaranteed to have with me.

Without any plan for where to go and nowhere to stash the car anyway, we went to the airport early. And then the plane was delayed. So a good hour wait at the airport. And I was no company, no conversation, at all. Damn I'm pathetic. I guess I need to buy a book on conversation. I should at least start grilling friends about what they would do if they could find the people to do it with; essentially practice having "what can VisionsUnite/PWGD do for you" conversations.

At least picking up Stefan went without a hitch. I was dressed in my Celtics jacket, have short hair again just like in the two-year-old picture on the web site, and holding my stickered laptop (and getting some good coding done too) and a sign that said "Stefan/-=-/Agaric" so when the plane finally arrived he saw me right away.